Cunningham, Minnie Fisher
Walker County, Walker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(March 19, 1882-December 9, 1964) A native of Walker County, Minnie Fisher earned a pharmacy degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1901. She worked in a Huntsville drugstore and married attorney B. J. Cunningham in 1902. They moved to Galveston in 1907, and she later lived in Austin and Washington, D.C. A leader in woman suffrage organizations, she was president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and helped found the National League of Women Voters. In 1928 she became the first Texas woman to run for the U.S. Senate. Her campaign was unsuccessful, and the year also was marred by the death of her husband. Her career turned toward public relations for government agencies, including the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An activist in the National Democratic Party, she counted President Franklin D. Roosevelt among the many friends who fondly called her by her nickname, "Minnie Fish". In 1944 she ran for Governor of Texas against Coke Stevenson, placing second among nine candidates in the primary. She built a home near this site in 1946 and continued to work in Democratic Party politics until her death at age 82.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A native of Walker County, Minnie Fisher Cunningham earned a pharmacy degree in 1901 before becoming one of Texas's most influential political women. As president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association and a co-founder of the National League of Women Voters, she helped win the vote for women, then in 1928 became the first Texas woman to run for the U.S. Senate. She later ran for governor in 1944, placing second in a nine-candidate primary, and remained a force in Democratic politics — a friend of Franklin Roosevelt known fondly as "Minnie Fish" — until her death in 1964.
Why it matters
Cunningham was a pioneering figure in American women's suffrage and electoral politics, opening doors for women to seek the highest offices in Texas and the nation.
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Related people
- · Minnie Fisher Cunningham
Themes & tags
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